The Ichilov Medical Center announced this morning of the death of Marina Balayev, age 68, who suffered a medical incident during the recent air-raid alarms.
According to the hospital, the woman experienced acute shortness of breath while running to the protected room in her home. Magen David Adom (MDA) teams evacuated her to the hospital’s emergency department, initiating advanced resuscitation efforts already in the ambulance. Upon her arrival at Ichilov, medical staff continued attempts to save her life, but were ultimately forced to pronounce her dead.
In a separate incident on Saturday night, a woman approximately 50 years old was killed in a direct hit from an Iranian ballistic missile on a residential building in Tel Aviv. At least 25 people were wounded in the barrage on the city, including seven children who were evacuated to Ichilov Hospital.
MDA teams that arrived at the scene initially assessed the woman’s condition as critical but later pronounced her dead. One of the injured is listed in serious condition, several others were moderately wounded, and the rest sustained light injuries.
The Home Front Command clarified that the incident was not caused by interceptor fragments but by a direct strike, which created a crater at the site. Officials noted that the building was old and that most residents had evacuated to a nearby public shelter. The woman who was killed, a foreign worker caring for a nursing patient, did not manage to reach shelter in time.
For reasons that remain unclear, the siren that sounded did not provide residents with the standard minute and a half to reach protected spaces, despite prior warning of an anticipated launch.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit stated, “Following a review by the Home Front Command, it appears that there was early warning. The Home Front Command explains that the duration of the siren constitutes the warning time - once the alert ends and an explosion is heard thereafter, that is precisely the time allotted for protection. No malfunction in the systems is known."
MDA updated that since the start of the war with Iran, the number of injured has risen to 120.